Part icipant s were asked about t heir views on t he role of regulat ion, legislat ion or
guidance in respect of effect ive collaborat ion t o prevent sexual exploit at ion of children and young people looked aft er away from home.
Legislat ion was seen as import ant in t hat it provided a framework t o disrupt and
prosecut e abusers. It was point ed out however t hat legislat ion is in place in t he form of t he Prot ect ion of Children and Prevent ion of Sexual Offences (Scot land) Act 2005 but t hat t here was possibly a lack of awareness of t his st at ut e:
Existing legislation in the form of the Protection of Children and Prevention of Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2005 is not well known in police circles and there needs to be efforts made to raise awareness of its provisions. It was not used during [a named police operation] and this may have been down to a knowledge gap for the officers involved. It creates a specific offence of child grooming and also makes provision to apply to the court for a Risk of Sexual Harm Order (RSHO) where an individual is suspected of being involved in a course of conduct to groom a child. This generally means more than one occasion. The RSHO is a preventative order that puts obligations on the perpetrator to either do
something or refrain from doing something. It usually has a power of arrest attached and would allow law enforcement to better police these individuals. There could be conditions such as not allowed to possess an internet enabled device or access the internet, no unsupervised contact with anyone under 16 etc. etc. To my knowledge this legislation has not been tested to any great extent in Scotland and I also believe that applications for RSHO's have been few and far between. (e-Delphi participant)
It was also suggest ed t hat Sect ion 37 of t he Sexual Offences Act be repealed so t hat young people and t heir parent s, t eachers and ot her relevant professionals can be
unafraid of raising concerns. It was suggest ed t hat rat her t han simply change legislat ion, t here was a need for a fundament al re-t hinking of how children and young people are cared for.
Similarly, regulat ion and guidance were seen as import ant . It was ment ioned t hat Barnardo’ s has developed a ‘ Good Pract ice Guide’ for local aut horit ies t o help t hem develop effect ive responses t o CSE. Several part icipant s caut ioned however t hat while regulat ion and guidance should help develop priorit ies and underpin a safe and
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Regulation, legislation and guidance seem to me important in: 1) raising the profile of the issue 2) as a first step in identifying how far professionals understand and are able to respond to cases of sexual exploitation (both through generating discussion and monitoring practice) 3) ensuring accountability for policy and practice. At the same time, I suggest there are difficulties in generating too many specific pieces of guidance that are 'issue based'. These seem likely to create confusion or be ignored by safeguarding authorities. There are also dangers, at national policy level, of seeing guidance as a means to plug holes i.e. issue dealt with. The experience in England and Wales suggests that guidance is far from being a panacea, especially if it is not backed by resources or clear lines of
support/expertise. (e-Delphi participant)
Rat her t han reliance on legislat ion, regulat ion and guidance it was suggest ed t hat t here were ot her issues which were import ant in addressing t he needs of t his group of children and young people. The following were proposed:
• Effect ive collaborat ive pract ice and t he need t o fost er ‘ a collect ive will’ among t hose involved in t his field;
• A shift in organisat ional cult ure and willingness t o share informat ion;
• Address t he lack of knowledge and awareness about sexual exploit at ion, part icularly among t hose caring for and working wit h children and young people in resident ial care, schools et c. This includes not only recognit ion of sexual exploit at ion but also underst anding how groups and net works of abusers operat e and knowledge of appropriat e int ervent ion st rat egies;
• Sharing of research, evidence and pract ice knowledge t o inform pract ice;
• A ‘ fundament al shift in t hinking about how we care for and support children and young people in care’ ; a need t o work from a children’ s right s/ child cent red framework, working inclusively wit h young people;
• Advocacy for young people and rout es for t hem t o disclose abuse.
There need to be focus groups of interested organisations to look at this issue and to put together regulations for care environments in identifying and recording this issue. But again I think the issue needs to be wider. This issue has the potential of affecting all young people and there needs to be a strategy to tackle it. We had a case recently where a 13 year old young person was being targeted by a 17 year old who had been grooming her on the internet. The response by the police, school and GP was uncoordinated and further
traumatised the young person. There was no prosecution despite the young person having to go through repeated and intrusive interviews. In instances such as this there needs to be a multi-agency approach with support put in place for the young person throughout the process. There should be guidance and training for care workers in this area. (e-Delphi participant)
It was also suggest ed t hat t here is learning t ransferable from ot her init iat ives such as t hose involving adult survivors of hist orical inst it ut ional abuse.
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